A Lonely Lockhart
by Kjrs
Summary: After fighting the horde of mannikins in the Rift Tifa expected to die, permanently this time. What she hadn't expected was to be taken away to another world again. It was nice for Dr. Banner to have a look at her wounds though.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**A Healing Touch**

It hurt. _She_ hurt, everywhere. Although she can tell that she's lying down on a bed with a sheet over her it paled in comparison to the pain she could feel on her body. Numerous wounds burned and bled, bruises that felt like they still hadn't healed and broken bones that make moving an extremely bad (as well as extremely painful) idea. Underneath the sheet she could tell that someone had dressed her wounds because she could feel bandages covering the more fatal wounds and she can feel someone cleaning the smaller and less lethal cuts that mar her skin, someone with small and precise hands who was trying to be as gentle as they possibly could on her still very much aching body.

Whoever it was that was fixing her up obviously has had a lot of experience with bandaging someone up, but is most likely not a trained doctor from a hospital because she can still feel a number of wounds that had been glossed over or downright ignored that really shouldn't have been. She'll have to see if she can find a Cure Materia somewhere so that she can patch herself up better but for now she can barely keep herself awake as it is.

So she lets herself fall into the comforting dark abyss of unconsciousness still feeling soft and warm hands healing her with care.

The next time she wakes she doesn't hurt as much and so manages to actually open her eyes this time only to come in contact with bright white light that sears her irises and makes her blink a few times before finally being able to see something more than just blurs of color.

"Good morning. It seems you've finally woken up. How are you?"

Tifa turned her head, slowly to make sure she didn't accidentally trigger another ache in her neck, to look at the person who had spoken. It was a man with dark brown and messy hair wearing glasses. Though he seemed normal she could feel something strange emanating from him, not a killing intent, no, but it almost felt like he had another side to him, a side that he's trying oh so desperately to hide. It felt a bit like how Cecil would try to hide his Dark Knight persona so that he doesn't accidentally hurt anyone with his powers. With Cecil though he could change into his Paladin form whenever he wished but this man didn't seem to have the same control over his power, in fact she could feel a bit of fear from him though only Cosmos knew why.

"What? Is there something on my face? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Or it could be that he's feeling nervous because she's been staring at him for so long without saying anything. Tifa can't help but smile a bit at his anxious questioning.

"No, there's nothing on your face. You just…feel a bit…strange. *cough*"

The man whose name she still doesn't know looked a bit panicked as he helped Tifa sit up on the bed and gave her a glass of water to drink. She gave him as comforting a smile as she could muster before gulping down the water.

"Don't force yourself to talk, you're still healing. Just rest for now, we can talk later."

"Thank you…"

The last thing that Tifa saw before falling back into unconsciousness was the worried look on his face. It made her smile to see how much he cared for a stranger like her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**The Other Guy**

She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but she did know that it had to have been longer than a day. She could hear crickets chirping outside, children laughing as they played and sometimes the sounds of automobiles passing by. She smelt noxious fumes outside, sometimes food when they had been cooked by someone in the house, mud, dirt, but surprisingly enough she couldn't smell grass anywhere but she did smell a lot of human excretions from the outside. Of course she could also hear the good doctor who had been kind enough to take care of her walking around, moving what sounded like glass containers that had liquids sloshing inside of them and sometimes playing with his glasses, either cleaning them or putting them down on the table for whatever reason. There seemed to have been another woman in the house, a woman that spoke a different language than the one she had heard the doctor speak and who sounded like they walked rather heavily, always stomping around like Garland would in his unwieldy armor, except with less clinking of armor obviously. Sometimes she can hear the woman reprimanding the doctor that he needed to sleep more often and to remind him when the food was cooked in a mangled version of English that was heavily accented. Other times she could hear the woman putting down a tray of food next to her, and when the doctor couldn't she would wipe her forehead clean of sweat and made sure that she was comfortable in the bed she slept in by fixing the blanket or fluffing the pillows while she ate. Though she was louder than the doctor she was just as kind, if a little brusque in her methods.

The doctor though was a different matter entirely. She could _always_ feel his presence, what with the two sides that she could feel emanating from his person, and so because of this she always knew when he was in the vicinity. One side of him felt like he was calm, but not truly calm. It felt as though he was forcing himself to always be calm, forcing his anger into as far into his subconscious as he could, never allowing himself to feel it. In fact, the few times Tifa felt anger in his aura she could also feel fear emerging before he would force himself calm in any way that he could, whether he employed breathing techniques, drank liquids or by staying silent. The other side of him however was the side that truly made her wary, though not fearful as he himself seems to be. It was a side that emanated strength; in fact it felt a bit like the punches that Jecht would give her every time they would spar. It felt like a punch to the gut that could send her flying across the room, a punch that would actually hurt and that she would feel the day after. It battered at her senses, exhausting her yet invigorating her at the same time, the exact same feeling she would get after a good spar with Jecht where she had to go all out and had her working up a sweat. At the same time however she could tell that the doctor most definitely did _not_ have that side of himself under control, he could suppress it, yes, but it was a type of control that was tenuous and would most likely snap at the right place and the right trigger.

After awhile though she finally awoke properly, with enough strength to at least sit up under her own power whenever she had to eat or drink and could open her eyes for longer than a few seconds. It took a bit longer however for her to be able to speak or move around the room she was in without feeling something rip. It was a bit frustrating really; if she had been this badly wounded in the War of the Gods she'd get killed faster than you could say Cosmos…

…Killed…

Which was another thing really, because the last thing she remembers was fighting in The Rift with the others against a never ending hoard of mannikins emerging from the Rift, dying of mortally fatal wounds and now she's in this house in a place filled with people who aren't bathing being taken care of by a doctor who obviously isn't all that experienced that she's never met before?! Obviously something is wrong here, but whatever it is or however she ended up here she's not going to complain. It's nice to be able to relax without there being an eminent threat of getting killed for once.

It helps that the doctor is really cute too. Not just his looks either, because really compared to someone like Laguna he's actually rather average looking but his personality is just adorable.

"You're awake again, that's good. Here, breakfast's served."

Tifa could only smile at his kindness and consideration of her needs, in the beginning he would go so far as to feed her himself. Of course he stopped when he judged that she was recuperated enough to do it herself but sometimes she'd catch him watching her carefully from the corner of her eyes, and it only made her feel warm inside. She knows that she should feel insulted that he thinks that she can't take care of herself but it was nice to be doted upon. It wasn't a treatment that she would have gotten a lot of before, and she relished it.

"How are you doing? The wounds are healing nicely, so far as I can tell. There were a few wounds I couldn't heal because they need specialized equipment but I bandaged you as well I could. You should probably go to a hospital as soon as you possibly can though, just to be safe."

Today Tifa felt stronger than before, especially after having drunk the glass of cold water to soothe her rough and dry throat so she decided that she would speak with the doctor, and most importantly ask him his name so that she could thank him properly.

"I'll…be alright. Most of the shallow wounds are already almost healed, and I'm sure I can deal with the more dangerous wounds myself if you could allow me to borrow some things."  
"You…you're sure?"  
"Yes. But don't worry doctor; I know what I'm doing. More importantly, I haven't introduced myself. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Tifa Lockhart."  
"Right, I haven't told you my name either. I'm Bruce Banner."  
"Nice to meet you Dr. Banner. Thank you for taking care of me. Once I've healed enough I promise I'll pay you back."  
"Ah, no, I know you don't have any money on you, in fact last time I checked you don't even have a wallet. You don't need to go out of the way for compensation."  
"Who said anything about money? I'm sure that I could be of service to you in other ways, I have a lot of experience as a bartender, a cook, and a bodyguard you know."  
"I don't need any of those, thanks. I'm fine on my own."  
"Are you sure about that? I don't know how you'll be able to do anything when you're so afraid of lashing out at other people."

Tifa could hear an audible click of Banner's teeth as he snapped his jaw shut abruptly, cutting off anything that he might have said afterwards. He paled slightly, before he schooled his features into a calmer expression and addressing her again. She wasn't impressed, nor was she fooled by his outward calm as she felt fear and anger and strength broiling inside him and she hoped her face clearly showed what she thought of his attempt at trying to intimidate her.

"You know about the Other Guy?"  
"I'm not too sure who you're referring to, but I do know there's much more to you than you care to show others."  
"That's true."  
"Like you said Dr. Banner, I don't have a wallet on me, or money, but I want to pay you back for your kindness. I'm not just going to ask you to heal me without giving you anything for return."  
"I told you that it's okay…"  
"No, it isn't. I can tell that this conversation with me is really frustrating you and you're trying so hard to stay calm so that you'll never get angry but you know what? Anger is a normal human emotion, not something that you supress so far deep inside of you that you could end up with an ulcer just because you're afraid of what would happen if you unleash it. Drinking tea and doing breathing techniques will only get you so far doctor."  
"Oh? And you have a better idea?"  
"Yes. However I'm only going to tell you about it if you agree to let me stay with you so that I can pay you back for healing me."

With arms crossed he stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face, and Tifa made a point to look him the eye to show him her sincerity and to never look away even for a minute. The room was silent as the stare down commenced. Though it felt like an eternity she was sure that only a few minutes had passed before the doctor finally uncrossed his arms and spoke again.

"You're going to be extremely stubborn about this aren't you?"  
"Yes."  
"Nothing I say will dissuade you from this?"  
"Nothing."  
"And you won't tell me how you think I should be dealing with the Other Guy unless I allow you to stay with me?"  
"No."  
"So you're really not going to give me much of a choice about this are you?"  
"Not at all."  
"Alright, okay, fine, you can stay with me. I would rather that I can keep an eye on you than to have to look over my shoulder and wonder where you're hiding from."  
"I promise doctor you won't regret this."  
"I already do…"

He gave another sigh before he put on his glasses again and leaving the room.

Boy he's a gloomy guy, reminds me a lot of how Kain was like when we all thought he had turned traitor on us. He's probably isolating himself because he thinks it'll be better for him to not have too much interaction with other people so that he doesn't hurt them somehow, or that he's less likely to betray those he loves or something equally depressing like that. Man, it seems I have a lot of work ahead of me to be able to get him to trust me don't I? Underneath it all he seems to be a nice guy so I don't think we'll really have such a hard time getting along. I hope he can get over whatever it is that saddens him so much, he really does look much better when he smiles.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Expectations and Reality**

Bruce expected a lot of things from his stay in Calcutta, relative peace and silence, anonymity, and hopefully some chances to make up for what he had done in Harlem.

What he _didn't_ expect was to find a beautiful pale skinned, dark haired woman heavily injured sleeping out in the open behind the house he was living in wearing a black and white outfit who looked like she had just crawled out of an open battlefield. He made sure that she was still alive by checking her pulse, and although it was a very weak one it seemed that she was still in the land of the living, but not for long if he didn't bring her inside and treat her wounds. He had to go back inside and ask for some help from Fatima's husband Suraj with carrying her inside however because despite her deceptively delicate appearance she had a surprising amount of muscle and was too heavy for him to carry on his own.

When he brought her inside he had Suraj put her down on the only available bed in his room and had asked Fatima to undress her before he attended to the wounds. He left the house to allow Fatima and the mysterious woman some privacy while he looked for some bandages and gathered some of the materials he'd need to clean up the mess she was in from the bag that he had left outside the house earlier. Suraj was staring at him with a strange look in his eye, one that Bruce would have been more than happy to ignore if he hadn't decided to speak up anyway.

"This woman…where did she come from?"

Though his English was good, grammatically correct and the pronunciation was perfect though they do speak rather formally, sometimes however when he feels a particularly strong emotion Suraj's accent would get stronger, a distinct twang on his voice that was stereotypically Indian that he typically tries so hard to hide shines through. After living with them for almost a year Bruce has learned to just ignore it, more often than not trying to speak in their native Hindi to make communications between the three of them that much easier though he also slips to English sometimes as well. They typically only speak to him in English now when they believe it was important enough that they had to make sure he understood them, and he supposes this strange incident would be enough to warrant such worries.

"Honestly Suraj, I don't even know. I found her behind your house in the state that you see her now and I couldn't just leave her lying on the cold dirty floor without at least cleaning up her wounds."  
"You don't know? What if she is dangerous, what if she wants to kill us?"  
"…What brought this up Suraj, why do you think she might want to kill us?"  
"People do not have such strong muscles because they are born with it doctor, she has trained herself to become strong, so strong she could most likely break someone's back with very little effort."  
"You noticed all this just by carrying her?"  
"Didn't you?"

Now that Suraj has brought it up, she did seem extremely toned, not muscled in the sense that a bodybuilder would be, but more like a track and field runner would be, lithe and svelte and made more for speed than sheer brute strength. Or at least she looks more like a runner than a weight lifter, but apparently Suraj thinks differently. She just seems so…delicate, not fragile, no, definitely not. Any woman that can go through what she apparently has cannot be called fragile in any sense, the cuts and bruises he's seen at a cursory look at her state would have taken down a man twice her size. Her shallow breathing, the pale skin and the long slender legs lend her a figure of a scrawny deer that had just narrowly avoided death rather than the rugged monster that Suraj paints. She doesn't seem to be the sort of person that would be so strong that she could break a human spine with so little effort that Suraj thinks she would, not like the Other Guy would at any rate.

"…She does seem rather toned doesn't she?"  
"We should not let her stay here doctor; she should leave as soon as she has healed."  
"Is there any reason you seem so scared of her Suraj?"  
"She is not human doctor, not in the way you and I are normal. She is made of different…what is the word you people use? Material? Substance?"  
"Fabric?"  
"Yes! She is made of different fabric than normal humans. Comparing her to us would be like comparing a building made of concrete to one made of wood. She is much stronger than we could ever hope to be, and made of stronger materials than we."  
"You must be exaggerating Suraj, really. Concrete and wood? Come on."  
"She is dangerous doctor, and she should not have been allowed to stay here."  
"Suraj please, stop worrying so much. Look, if anything happens I promise I can deal with it. If she tries to hurt anyone I'll stop her."  
"Are you sure you would be able to?"

With this question came a soul searching gaze from Suraj, as though he was trying to find the answer by staring into Bruce's eyes. Bruce could only give a wan smile in return, because while he's sure that no one would be able to stand up to the Hulk he'd really rather not have to revert to the Other Guy just to keep them safe because he didn't want them to find out about that side of him. He'd been able to live in relative peace and normalcy for almost half a year now, and he'd like to keep that record thank you very much. For a number of seconds the moment stretched out like that until Fatima finally came out to get Bruce.

"Doctor? I've changed her; you can come see her now."

Finally Bruce could break Suraj's stare without seeming to insult him and he eagerly took the opportunity to do so.

"Thank you Fatima, I'll be right there."

And so Bruce gathered up all the materials he needed and escaped inside the house, away from Suraj's prying eyes.

* * *

It was a long time before she finally woke up for the first time, almost two weeks had passed before she did, and the one time that she did she stared at him with a strange look in her eyes, as though she could see something about him that other people couldn't. It was unnerving to be stared like that, to say the least. It made Suraj's stare seem like a childish glare in comparison, and it made him feel anxious enough to make him question why she stared like that. She tried to answer him, but coughed because of her undoubtedly sore throat. She made a rather odd remark as well, about how he felt strange but she became unconscious before he could ask her to clarify that statement and it was another 3 weeks before she finally gathered enough strength to properly hold a conversation with him. It was a strange conversation, to say the least, and when she said she could be of service to him he almost thought she was propositioning him before she made it clear that she had only platonic thoughts about him when she offered to be his bartender of all things, as if it looked like Suraj's house had a bar and that he would even drink in the first place. He tried to say no, to apparently no effect. She didn't let anything he had said to change her mind, and by the looks of things it was just a forgone conclusion and that she probably only wanted his permission for formality's sake.

It was irritating when people made decisions for him, especially now that he's actually a grown man but this woman seemed extremely determined to stay with him no matter what he had said so he had no choice in the matter but to accept. Although she seemed to have good intentions behind it, it still stuck in his craw having to deal with this again.

* * *

She made good on her word though that she would make a good bodyguard only a few days later, and it was a day that he was never going to forget.

It was about a month after she had basically forced him to take her in like a stray cat that he felt that she had recovered enough to come with him when he did house calls on other patients in the area, and since then she wouldn't let him leave her sight. She was always one step behind him, his ever present shadow and it was very annoying.

Or at least it was until someone tried to steal from him and she stopped the perpetrator with a kick to the head.

He's getting a bit ahead of himself though, and out of context.

See, it started like this…

* * *

He was walking to a house on the outskirts of the city, one owned by a friend of Suraj's that had a sick child that he wanted look over by Bruce and since he was paid up front for his services how could he refuse? Tifa followed right behind him, like she usually did ever since that day and surprisingly after the first few days people didn't stare at them so much anymore, easily ignoring Tifa as though she was just another stray animal following right behind him. Tifa is a very friendly woman; she'd made friends with a number of Bruce's clients, especially the wives and the younger adolescent girls. She could giggle with the girls about cute boys that they had crushes on as well as exchanging recipes and tips about how to keep a household clean with the housewives and even got along well with the husbands, though whether it was because she was an exotic beauty or because she could carry just as much, if not more, than they could was debatable.

The strangest thing about her though was how quietly she can move, she can be so quiet that more than once she had snuck up on a number of his clients and scared them half to death without even trying. She would always apologize to the person that she had scared but it inevitably happens every time Bruce comes for a house call and she'd still scare them no matter how many times it happens. She made a point of not sneaking up on Bruce however, in fact at times it seems like she's deliberately trying to make sure that he knows that she's right behind him, whether she'd tap his shoulder with a finger or makes one step slightly louder than the other she'd always find ways to warn him whenever she come up behind him. It was a surprisingly kind gesture, and though he appreciated it Bruce wondered whether or not she did it because she didn't want to scare him or that she thought it would be rude to.

Her stealth though was a god send, especially when a random street rat, a grown man that looked like he hadn't had a shower for a whole year, had run up to Bruce with a rusty knife in his hand and his free hand outstretched to his bag. Before the thief could get his hands on his bag and even before Bruce had the time to react there was a flash before a deceptively dainty foot shot out at the face of the would-be thief that made him fly 5 meters into the air with a trail of blood following his wake. Bruce had a moment to see the determined look on Tifa's face before she flashed out of his sight once more only to follow the thief to the air and punching him (_that strangely enough left a large column of water shooting out to the sky behind her_) so hard that it finally propelled him into the horizon leaving nothing but a twinkle in the sky as proof that he was ever there in the first place.

Bruce could hardly believe what he had just seen, and took off his glasses to clean them out of habit, although when he put them back on Tifa was still just standing there with a fine mist of water coming down on her head. She gave him a bright smile as she stretched out her arms and feet while talking to him. Her stretching made her breasts jiggle and move in an almost obscene way that in any other time Bruce would have found distracting but now he didn't even notice as he listened to her speak so casually about having just propelled a person into the atmosphere.

"Well that was fun! Although it was a little too short a fight for my liking."  
"…You really can be a bodyguard then?"  
"What, didn't you believe me when I said I could?"  
"…Will you punch me like you did that guy if I said no?"

Her laugh was like listening to a chime being blown around by the wind, a graceful tinkling sound that he hadn't known that people's laughter could sound like.

"No, I won't. A lot of people tend to underestimate me, but as you've just seen for yourself I'm a lot stronger than I look."  
"I think pretty much anyone within a mile radius of us had seen that."

It seems that she appreciates a dry sense of humor, if her resulting laughter at his comment was any indication of such. Having just seen what she was capable of Bruce was more than slightly thankful he had decided to befriend her and had allowed her to follow him around like a shadow. Though he's pretty sure that the Other Guy would be able to weather any blow she could make he wasn't so sure that his normal state would be able to, especially not with her speed.

It was one of the most memorable days he'd ever had and one that would always be in the back of his mind, even with the whole Chitauri fiasco in New York.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**SHIELD**

"Director Fury."  
"Agent Coulson. Report. Have you got any information on this Tifa Lockhart woman?"  
"None whatsoever sir, not only is she not in our database she's not even in the RAW or the CIA. We had made contact with Xavier but he says that he is not aware of this woman's existence which rules out the possibility of her being a mutant and we've even searched through old experiment folders to make sure she wasn't made by an old defunct group but we've had no luck there either."  
"…This can't be good."

Coulson just stood silently in front of his commanding officer with a patient smile on his face as Fury more than lives up to his name as he starts fiercely barking at everyone in the vicinity, starting by pointing at a new agent that had just finished his training recently who promptly jumped at attention when he was addressed.

"You, yes you. I want you to man the monitors, make sure that we have at least one eye on this woman at all times."  
"Even when she –"  
"I don't care if we have to find a way to put a camera in the bathroom; I meant it when I said _at all times_. Am I making myself clear?"  
"Yes sir!"  
"Coulson, who isn't in an assignment that we can send on a surveillance mission right now?"  
"Agents Romanoff and Barton are unavailable at the moment, Romanoff is in deep cover in Russia gathering intel on a specific group of the Russian mafia and Barton is still on duty watching over the Tesseract and the doctors working on it. Many of the agents that had taken part in the Puente Antiguo incident are still healing from the heavy wounds sustained in the attack."  
"That doesn't leave me with a lot of candidates Coulson…How is the Captain doing?"  
"…He's having a hard time adjusting to the temporal changes he's just gone through, but he seems to be in peak physical shape."  
"I want you to help him acclimate to his new situation, keep yourself as available as much as possible to him whenever you can. I get the feeling we'll need his help sooner or later."

This time Coulson couldn't help it when his smile grew into a large grin and his eyes sparkled with the eagerness of being able to spend more time with his childhood hero. Fury was looking at him when he gave his order so he caught the look on his agent's face and an answering smirk spread on his face even while he made it clear that this was an important assignment that he wanted Coulson on.

"Don't get too excited Coulson, you'll still be my one good eye and making sure that this agency keeps running in the meantime. You can ask him to sign your cards another time, but for now I need your eyes on the prize. Got it?"  
"Of course sir, but who will you sent to keep an eye on Ms. Lockhart?"  
"By the looks of things she'll only be aggressive against anyone who'll attack Dr. Banner and will always stay by his side as his unpaid bodyguard. Agent Sitwell will have to be informed of a certain change in his mission parameters so that he'll know to keep an eye on both of them for us."  
"Will there be anything else Director?"  
"Not for now, you're dismissed agent."

The smirk lessened as Coulson left the room, leaving Fury to think about this new development in the clusterfuck that is his life right now.

Not only has he had to deal with Tony Stark and his brand of lunacy, he's had to deal with the fall out of a divine family power struggle in New Mexico and clean up the mess they had left behind, made sure that the Hulk didn't get caught by General Ross and that Harlem wasn't literally crushed into oblivion by a fight between two monsters and sending out some of his own people to find the Captain in the Arctic circle while at the same time making sure that the Council stayed off his back long enough by promising them that he'll keep the scientists working on the Tesseract that had so recently gotten into their hands and protecting them from any other unknown parties from stealing it from them…and now there's _this_.

A strange woman with long dark hair and pale white skin wearing a white shirt underneath a black leather zip-up vest, black shorts with a front utility pocket, hands gloved in black leather and what looked like half a cloak tied to the back of the shorts and black & white running shoes. She had a pink ribbon tied to her left bicep for whatever reason and when Banner had found her she was in extremely bad shape. She had deep cuts and dark bruises as well as bleeding so badly from all of her wounds they were genuinely surprised to see that she was still breathing, shallowly and slowly but still a sign that she was still alive even after all the abuse her body had taken. They had footage to Banner finally finding her behind the house of the couple who had been kind enough to give him a home, the panic in his eyes as he took in her condition and how he struggled to put her in an upright position.

One thing that Banner hadn't noticed that SHIELD did was the pronounced muscles on her arms and legs, pronounced though not prominent that spoke of thorough training in the martial arts, though which type exactly was hard to determine without seeing her in battle. Now that they had real footage of what she's capable of however they were even more worried about her, or more specifically what she might do with her powers. It seems that she was capable of superhuman speed and strength, as well as being able to bolster her punches with hydrokinetic abilities which were part of the reason why he had Coulson call up Xavier on the off chance that she might be a mutant. By the looks of things however it seems that she doesn't have the same durability and stamina nor does she seem to have a healing factor of any kind, if her wounds were any indication of such. It was both a relief and a point of tension when they learned that she didn't have to change into a monster to be able to access her strength, which means she'd be less likely to randomly attack civilians but it's also quite likely that unless they could get her to trust them she may well turn that strength against them.

It had been a bit of a challenge to put in a camera in the building without the owners noticing but it was worth it when they had footage of the woman waking up and speaking with Banner a few months later. They now had a name for her, Tifa Lockhart as she had introduced herself. When she opened her eyes they saw that she had warm brown almond shaped eyes that was just as kind as the good doctor himself was. She's a very perceptive woman, knowing about the Hulk without having once ever seen him, though the fact that she could "sense" him was more than slightly worrying. She seems to be well aware of her own strength, and that she has enough control over it to be able to use it to her advantage a number of times as a bodyguard apparently. By what she had said she has had some experience as a bartender and a cook as well as being a bodyguard, though when they tried to search for a worker with that name in the databases of the world her name hadn't turned up any results.

Fury was not a man who would delude himself, he knows that he is a spy, someone who gathers intelligence for a living and uses it to his advantage. Knowing that there is a person out there that he has literally no information about at all is more than slightly alarming, and a situation that needs immediate rectifying, because he's not going to have someone so dangerous so close to the Dr. Banner, not when she's a potential enemy or a spy for an enemy, who may well trigger the Hulk in a heavily populated area and could cause not just death and destruction but also an international incident that could lead to hostile political relationships that the US does _not_ need at the moment.

No matter what, that _can't_ be allowed to happen, and Fury will do whatever it takes to not only protect the Hulk and the good Dr. Banner but also to be able to find a way to get the woman to affiliate herself with SHIELD because someone of her diversified skill set could be an asset to the Avengers Initiative…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Accidents and Explanations**

**2 months later**

Apparently being a self-employed bodyguard of the only doctor that allows house calls in the dingy part of Calcutta doesn't really allow for a lot of chances to fight people, surprisingly enough. You'd think that the thieves would try at least more than once a month to take money from the one guy in the place that isn't wearing old clothes with holes in them, but no, it seems that's not the case. It's quite the opposite in fact, so few people have tried to steal from Dr. Banner that Tifa's barely had any good fights ever since she's found herself here. It did give her time to learn a number of things about her principal though. Like how Dr. Banner likes his tea, how he keeps cleaning his glasses whenever he's nervous or not sure of what he's seeing, how he tends to go silent sometimes for no discernible reason and how he tends to forget himself when he's knee deep in an experiment almost to the point that he wouldn't eat unless someone forced him to as well as how he's completely and utterly terrified of the "Other Guy". It was in the little things that Tifa could really tell this, because any time after the scene where she had basically made herself his bodyguard he's been frustratingly silent about the subject no matter how tactfully or kindly she'd tried to ask. It was almost getting to the point that she wants to just punch him through a wall to see if that'll get him to talk.

She hasn't done that, obviously, because hurting your own principal is most definitely _not_ what you do when you're someone's bodyguard, but mostly because she doesn't know how he'll react if she did. For all she knows that "Other Guy" might pop up if she does and might pummel her into the next century. Well, Jecht would certainly do the same with his Aeon form when they got really serious in their spars but somehow she gets the feeling that Dr. Banner would have a lot less control over the "Other Guy". Of course, if Jecht felt that their fight had deteriorated enough that he needs to bring out his Aeon form he was more than likely to throw a meteor at her general direction which, no matter how strong this "Other Guy" might be, she doubts that it could do the same. Unless they somehow managed to fight in an arena where meteors can be flung around, but it seems this new world she's found herself in fluctuates a lot less than the battlefield of the War of the Gods and (thankfully) have no random portals that will erratically send you to who-knows-where, she really doubts that'll ever happen.

Little things like how she can feel his fear every time he gets angry, how his face would contort with panic and wrath warring in his eyes and how his fists would clench every time he sees something or someone that makes him angry. Some relatively minor things, she admits, but taken together and with what little she knows about him she can tell those are warning signs, though what they could be warning against she hasn't got the slightest clue. Not for a lack of trying, mind you.

It took her getting a shallow cut on her face by a mugger before he would finally talk about the "Other Guy".

* * *

The incident was one that she could have easily prevented really. They were just walking to another house of some people who had sick children and were willing to pay him up front if he came to their home to help their children heal. A random mugger suddenly came at them when they were walking out in the streets and was desperate enough to attempt to rush the doctor to get at his medic bag that had a surprisingly sharp knife that wasn't rusty who had a bit more experience than most muggers on the street. He got a lucky hit on her when she was in the middle of punching him away from Dr. Banner, his knife only being able to inflict a shallow flesh wound before she managed to land a punch to the solar plexus hard enough to throw him 5 metres away which she followed up with a body slam by using his legs as a lever, leaving him in a rather deep crater in the shape of a human body, of _his_ body to be more precise.

The wound was so shallow and so insignificant in fact that Tifa hadn't even noticed that she was even injured at all until Dr. Banner pointed it out to her afterwards.

"Tifa! Are you alright?!"  
"Yes, I'm fine."  
"Your cheek is bleeding Tifa; I would hardly call that 'fine'."  
"It is?"

With a genuinely confused look on her face, Tifa puts both her hands on her cheeks, and it was only when she saw the blood on her left glove that she finally noticed that she was hurt, though from what she can tell the wound isn't fatal and would mostly likely heal given a day or so. She wasn't really sure why he was so upset about it, really. Before she could tell him that Dr. Banner already had rubbing alcohol and a roll of bandage cloth in his hands as he walked up to her side.

"Here, let me clean that. You could get infected or it could bleed out if we leave alone without at least disinfecting it."  
"Dr. Banner, it's really nothing to worry about…"  
"I feel rather old when you call me that, please just call me Bruce."  
"Well…if you're sure…though I feel that's a bit too familiar a term to use when I've only known you for a few months…"  
"You make me think of my father when you call me that. Just Bruce is fine, really."  
"Alright then…Bruce, but really, this is just a flesh wound…"  
"Are you the doctor here Tifa?"  
"No…?"  
"Then you don't get to say whether or not a wound is fatal. Now sit still and let me clean that already."  
"Fine doctor…um, I mean Bruce…"

When he was close enough Tifa could see that his eyes had turned green and his skin had a faint green tint, and before he was close enough to dab at the wound she grabbed his wrists and made him stop just 15 centimetres away. She wasn't so sure why his skin was turning green, but from what little experience she's had fighting against the Cloud of Darkness she knows that people whose skin turn green will quite likely try to kill her, and she certainly doesn't want her own principal to attempt to do that when she's only trying to protect him. She put both of his wrists in one of her hands while using her right hand to tilt his face down so that he was basically forced to make eye contact with her.

"Bruce."  
"Tifa? What…?"  
"Calm. Down."  
"What do you-?"  
"It's nothing more than a shallow wound. There's no need to get worked up over it. Now, follow my example. Breathe…And hold for 5 seconds…And exhale."

As he followed her example the green tint faded from his skin, and though his eyes still looked rather angry they were darkening back to the typical brown that they normally were. Tifa repeated the simple breathing exercise until she was finally sure that he didn't have any shade of green on his person anymore and that he won't get angry again. Only then did she finally let his wrists go, though she still kept her right hand on his chin as she tried to comfort him.

"You've seen me in a worst state than a single cut on my face Bruce. I can take a beating, and a small cut like this won't be enough to kill me. Not by a long shot. Now, if you promise me you're not going to go green on me just because of a shallow flesh wound I'll let you clean it, okay?"  
"…*deep breath**long exhale*…Alright, fine, I'm sure that I now have a good grip on the Other Guy."

Tifa was so happy about Bruce trying so hard to assure her when he was the one that was being protected in the first place that she just had to give him a bright smile and a tight hug as she whispered in his ear.

"Don't worry about me so much Bruce. It takes a lot more than that to kill me. Besides, I'm you bodyguard, right? It's my job to take the punches for you, remember?"  
"I'm a doctor Tifa. It's my job to worry about people's health."  
"Just because it's your job doesn't mean you should ignore your own health for the sake of others. Since you're so sure you've got a handle on the Other Guy I'm going to let your wrists go and let you tend to my wound, alright?"

His nod was enough of an answer for Tifa, and after she had let go of his wrist she found a relatively intact box to sit on as Bruce disinfected her wound. His face was very focused on his work, to the point that he didn't even notice when she stared at him openly as she tried to puzzle out what had just happened here. For most people, having someone turn green on them isn't really considered normal, but what with everything Tifa's seen, someone turning green, while she still doesn't consider it normal, it also was not the weirdest thing she'd ever seen. She's already seen a clown that turns into a purple skinned creature with wings, so really Bruce turning green isn't really that much stranger. No, what she finds strange about all of this was the fact that he only turns green by what seems to be his own emotional state, which certainly something she's never seen before. She's also pretty certain that's part of the reason why he's afraid of it so much, since his transformations are triggered by his own emotions it probably means he doesn't have a very good control over it, and he most likely lives in fear of it. Which is a shame really, because the strength that he's working so hard to hide might come in handy in certain situations. In fact, if he can find a way to control his strength, he would never need her as a bodyguard ever again.

With all of this in mind Tifa decided to ask the one question that's been bugging her all this time and resolved to find the answer, no matter how stubborn the doctor will be about answering it.

"Bruce…I have a question."  
"Yeah?"  
"Why are you so afraid?"

Though his shoulders hunched over and his body tensed, Banner was the epitome of professionalism as he finished dressing her wounds before answering her with a shaky voice.

"Afraid of what, exactly?"  
"I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

Bruce couldn't have helped his incredulous stare to Tifa if he tried, she could tell he was afraid and yet she didn't know why? Tifa returned his stare with a solemn scrutiny of him, one that told him that she was completely serious with her question and that she wanted answers. He was the first to break her stare by sighing heavily before taking off his glasses to clean them as he normally would whenever he would get nervous. He couldn't keep the eye contact as he finally broke down to tell her what she wanted to know.

"It's…complicated."  
"I've got all the time in the world."  
"…I don't. Can this wait until after I've looked over the patient? I'll answer all of your questions then."  
"Promise?"  
"Yeah, I promise."

Tifa smile, though a bit dimmed in comparison to the one she had given him not a few minutes before was still just as beautiful, though it was tinged with a hint of sadness somehow. She knew that what he had just promised would probably take a lot out of him, and she appreciated knowing that he trusted her enough to tell her one of his secrets. Truly, Bruce was a kind man. She had known that before, but this incident has just validated her good opinion of him.

As for Bruce, that smile was a sight that would always haunt him for the rest of his life. Though his heart has already been given to Betty, even he isn't immune to Tifa's numerous…_charms_.

* * *

The children only had a bad case of food poisoning, thankfully one that their bodies would easily be able to heal on its own so long as they get some rest, liquids and that the body is allowed to get rid of waste without any interference by the parents. Since the children were relatively young and healthy (two children, one boy and one girl, between the ages 5-10, well-fed though by the looks of it they don't get a lot of exercise) they didn't need any medicine to assist their body in healing so Bruce just advised the parents to let them sleep for about a week, keeping them hydrated and not to worry too much about any potential diarrhea they might have over the week.

Tifa stood at the entrance of the home watching the doctor speaking with a soothing tone to the parents of his patients, the voice that was calm and placating without sounding like a sycophant which was accompanied by gentle hands and an open body language that told everyone in the vicinity that he was not a threat and just wants to help. It was interesting to watch when he gets like that because it just makes everyone else feel so safe near him, and although Tifa doesn't need that type of comfort she can see what an impact it makes when he interacts with either the patients or their relatives. It's also quite likely the reason why he's such a popular doctor in the area, his kindness radiates from him like an aura that even those who aren't sensitive to such things can feel it and become instinctively more relaxed around him.

Of course, if you are someone who's more sensitive to auras being emitted by other people like Tifa is you'd be able to feel the underlying aura of otherness that he also radiates, an otherness that radiates strength and passion and wildness that is also being repressed so far into his consciousness it was like a tiny ink dot on a blank white sheet of paper. It was still there, but the presence was a slight one and took a bit of work to get to. Tifa herself can always feel it, partially because she knows what to look for, having had some experience with it, but also partially because it fascinates her. Such a mild mannered man with a hidden side to himself that seems to not only be a compliment to his outer mask, but also something that had the potential strength of Jecht... Well, how could she not be?

By the time they had gotten back to Suraj and Fatima's home the sun had already set and although Tifa could tell that he was quite tired however she could see that he had a grim look of determination on his face as he sat in Tifa's room on a cushion facing her.

"So…What did you want to know?"  
"A lot actually, but I'll be fair and start with only one question. Who is this…'Other Guy' that you had mentioned before?"  
"…Like I had said earlier, it's complicated. He's…I guess you could say that he's my feral side personified."  
"Feral… Yes, that's a good word to describe him. He has the same presence as a wild animal."  
"I have a question for you as well."  
"A question for a question, right? Okay, fair enough. Go ahead and ask."  
"When you say that you can feel him, what do you mean by that exactly?"  
"I meant what I said, I can feel him. I can feel his presence in you like I can feel whenever you're in my vicinity."  
"…You can feel a person's presence?"  
"Well, yes. Why?"  
"Hmm…How exactly does that work Tifa?"  
"I don't really know the mechanics behind it to explain to you well enough, but I can give you a rough sketch of how I perceive it. Whenever there is a living being within a 1000 miles of my person I can feel them, usually I can feel their emotions, their strength level relative to my own and whether or not they intend to harm me or you."  
"1000 miles? Seriously?"  
"Yes. I've been able to test it out here in Calcutta. Whenever one of the thieves have so much as looked at you and thought that they wanted to steal from you I can tell all of that from 1000 miles away. Of course if I decide to focus on just one person I can sense them as far as the edges of this whole city. That usually takes an inordinate amount of concentration and leaves me with pounding headaches however so I usually don't use it."  
"WHAT?! This city is longer than 3000 miles!"  
"Which is exactly the reason why I don't typically focus on just one person; do you know how taxing that can be?"  
"The fact that you can even do something like that is…well, I would say that's supposed to be impossible but I'm the last person who can say something like that without looking like a hypocrite so…"  
"Don't worry too much about it. It just makes it easier for me to keep an eye out for you is all. Now that I've answered so many questions I believe I get to ask mine now. Does this 'Other Guy' have a name or what?"  
"Well…He's officially known as the Hulk by the media out in America, but I usually just call him the Other Guy."  
"Hulk? Well, that's…an interesting moniker. I suppose since I haven't really seen him yet I can't say whether or not it fits so I'll leave it alone. Do you have any more questions for me?"  
"Of course I do! After saying something like that, you think I won't?"  
"Huh? You mean it's not normal for people to be able to sense a person's presence here?"  
"Normal?! That's a power only mutants would have!"  
"What's a mutant?"

Bruce couldn't help spluttering at that, she had all of these superhuman powers and she didn't even know what mutants are?! How can that be? Where was she born? Under a rock?!

"You…How… You have all of those powers and you don't know what a mutant is?!"  
"No. Why, should I?"  
"What, has none of your employers found out about your powers?"  
"Actually, it was part of the reason they hired me in the first place."  
"What."  
"Well, technically I wasn't employed so much as summoned by the Goddess of Harmony but that's neither here nor there."  
"…"

Bruce stared at her with jaw dropped and a very confused look on his face, while feeling his brain shutting down from this newest revelation from his self-proclaimed bodyguard. She has superhuman strength, speed, and can power her punches and kicks with water and fire as well as being able to sense people from up to 1000 miles away when she doesn't focus on a single person but she's _not a mutant_?! Hell, she doesn't even know what a mutant is! She was also apparently summoned by a Goddess of Harmony because of those same powers. Yes, this will definitely be a good enough cause for his brain to break down.

Tifa however was just looking at him with a very calm look on her face, though she has since titled her head to the side like a confused dog as she took in his emotions. He seems to be quite confused about it all, and frankly so is she. What exactly are mutants and why would they have powers like she has? She had trained herself for years under Zangan's tutelage before she could get so strong, how did these mutants get their powers? And why does he expect her to know what they are? Why should she know about them anyway? Are they important? These were just a few questions of the many she had running through her head, and a good deal more were clamoring for attention at the same time. However she still wants to know what exactly a mutant is, and is not shy about asking about them either now that she knows she can get him to answer them.

"Can you please explain to me what a mutant is Bruce?"  
"I…Um… So you meant it when you said you didn't know what a mutant was?"  
"Of course I meant it! Did it look like I was lying to you?"  
"No! No, that's not what it looked like at all! It's just hard for me to believe you've never heard of a mutant before. Do you not watch TV a lot? They've been all over the news recently."  
"Suraj doesn't exactly have a TV set lying around you know."

Bruce could only chuckle dryly at that, although Suraj and Fatima aren't as badly off as the other people who live in this area of the city they can barely afford to put food on the table as it is, and luxuries like a television set is a bit beyond their budget at the moment. It wasn't really something that was all that important to anyone living in the house, seeing as Bruce is more than capable of entertaining himself for hours with his own experiments, Tifa can always just train if she ever feels restless while Suraj and Fatima are usually away working most of the day anyway so no one's really seen much of a point in buying one and setting it up in the house.

"There is that."  
"How do mutants get their power? Do they train in a specific place, or under a master?"  
"It usually depends, some mutants are born with it, and some of them get it through an unforeseen accident of some kind, while some others can only use their powers if they have a tool of some sort."  
"Interesting. Are you a mutant, Bruce?"  
"No, I'm not. If it wasn't for the Hulk I'd just be an average Joe on the street."  
"I highly doubt that."  
"…Anyway, let's get back on the subject of mutants. Mutants are looked upon by society, mostly the American society, as a threat to the continued existence of normal humans. More often than not most mutants tend to have destructive powers, whether they want it or not, which is part of the reason why so many consider them to be a threat in the first place. Usually mutants destroy a good part of the environment they are surrounded by, sometimes because they have no control over their powers, other times because they got in a fight with other mutants or monsters or people from the American government that wants to incarcerate them. Some mutants take it upon themselves to protect the Earth from threats, while some other groups believe that mutants are the next evolutionary step and are superior to mundane humans and use this philosophy to attempt to take over the world. Which I'm sure I don't need to tell you isn't exactly making them look good in the eyes of the public. The powers can range from control over elements, superhuman strength, psychic powers, accelerated healing to even being able to project lasers from their eyes."  
"So basically no one knows what kind of powers they'll end up with if they're mutants?"  
"Yes, that's exactly right. Sometimes not even the mutants themselves know what kind of power they'll have."  
"It sounds horrible to be a mutant."  
"That's debatable, but off track of the subject at hand. So far orthodox technology can't detect what gene, or what combination of genes, are responsible for the mutants and their powers, though there are rumors of a certain doctor that has invented a supercomputer that can detect mutants that have overt and latent mutant powers but is quite obviously not something that can just be bought in any random Staples depot. Most mutants only start showing signs of having a mutant power in their adolescence, no one's exactly sure why but typically their powers manifest themselves between the ages of 13-18, though there have been exceptions to this. The signs can also range from the power itself manifesting, or a physical change in the mutant's physiology. No one truly knows how the mutations are passed down genetically, partially because we cannot trace the gene, and also because not all children sired by mutants become mutants themselves."  
"Not a lot is known about mutants, is there?"  
"No, and it's making a number of people in power very anxious, understandably so. However it doesn't excuse the inhuman ways they've treated the mutants and it's why I don't recommend you use your powers too often in public Tifa. You can easily be mistaken for a mutant, and the American government may take extreme measures to take you into custody."  
"It sounds like you're speaking from experience Bruce. Have you had government officials "taking extreme measures" to imprison you?"

As soon as the question left her mouth Tifa regretted asking it, taking in his squared shoulders and tense body language as signs that the question was not expected nor welcomed by Bruce. She hurriedly tried to assure him that it wasn't a question he needed to answer if he didn't want to in fear that he might start clamming up again when he'd finally started answering her questions about himself. It took her quite awhile to even get him comfortable enough with her to speak this much, and she's not going to have her own carelessness change that now.

"Ah, that is – you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I was just curious, that's all. It's not that important, really. You can just – I…"  
"It's…okay. I guess I was being a bit obvious about it, wasn't I? …Yes, I've had some experience with the government wanting to take me into custody. It wasn't a pleasant experience."  
"Having people chasing after you who want to incarcerate you never is."  
"Now _you_ sound like you're speaking from experience."  
"…You could say that. I still have more questions about this 'Hulk' of yours, but it's getting late and if you want me to wait for tomorrow to ask the rest of my questions about him I'll totally understand."  
"It's alright; I've had to deal with my fair share of late nights. I can still answer at least 3 more questions before I really need to hit the sack."  
"That's good, because I'm still very curious. Does Hulk have powers like a mutant has or is he just a manifestation of another side of your psyche? He doesn't grow horns and throw around meteors like balls does he? Am I in any danger of getting hurt by him?"  
"Yes, the Other Guy does have powers, mostly superhuman strength, endurance, agility, speed and accelerated healing capabilities. He seems to feed off my anger and emotions, the angrier I get the more powerful he becomes. Also whenever he comes out my skin and eyes turn green, as I'm sure you've noticed yourself."  
"It's a little hard _not_ to notice someone turning green."  
"And no, he doesn't grow any horns and throw around meteors, though I suppose if there were meteors to throw around he'd probably be able to. That's a rather specific question, why do you ask about those exactly?"  
"Let's just say I had a friend and comrade-in-arms that had powers that were comparable to the Hulk that have those traits. He was a rather short tempered guy, but he was a good man. It's good to know that the Hulk won't randomly summon a meteor from thin air to throw at me like he would though, dodging meteors can be quite tricky when they're being thrown at you with little to no warning."  
"…Exactly what kind of people did you use to hang out with?"  
"My friends were a rather eclectic bunch; their powers could probably give your mutants a run for their money."  
"I bet. As for your last question, yes, you are probably in danger of getting hurt by the Other Guy, though I get the feeling that you'd be able to hold your own against him without too much trouble."

Tifa could only shrug at that. Though she is plenty strong and fast against normal and not-so-normal people she's never actually gone head to head against the Hulk so she can't really be too sure about that. Being confident in your skills is one thing, but being too overconfident can lead to failure and death. She tries not to let her own strength get to her ego too often, and thinking herself invincible is a sure fire way of getting killed on the battlefield. She's already had her fill of near-death experiences thank you very much, and she'd rather not have to deal with it ever again.

"Maybe I can, maybe I can't. I won't know until I actually fight him."  
"You're very modest aren't you?"  
"No I'm not, just practical. Though I can feel the presence of the Hulk inside of you, it's not comparable to knowledge of his fighting style and not enough of an indicator as to whether or not I'd be able to defeat him in battle. Fighting against someone or something on which I know little to nothing is the height of foolishness, and believing myself strong enough to destroy anything and everything in my path just because I can beat up some random muggers on the street is just plain stupid."  
"Yes, I suppose that's true. Do you have any other questions for me or have I satisfied your curiosity enough yet?"  
"Anything else I'd want to know about the Hulk at this point will only be answered if I meet him as an adversary in the battlefield, so no, I don't have any more questions for you. Thank you for being so accommodating, I had friends who wouldn't have been able to sit long enough for them to even give me half the information you just did."  
"I'm a scientist, pursuing knowledge is my job."  
"I thought you were a doctor, and taking care of people was your job?"  
"Who says I can't be both?"

Tifa would have answered that except that a yawn had interrupted whatever words were about to escape from her, and Bruce noted that when she stretches herself her breasts jump and jiggle in a rather noticeable and almost obscene way that he didn't think that real breasts could actually do. Frankly, he didn't even think that women with her body type could even have enough fat in their body to have such large breasts, but he supposes that there are exceptions to every rule. Then again, he never would have thought that someone as delicate looking as Tifa does would be able to punch someone with enough strength and force to propel them to the sky so maybe he should stop trying to judge her based on her appearance in the first place. Everything about Tifa really seems to defy the conventions of American society, not just her looks but also her abilities and her personality. She was a mystery, and a mystery that Bruce was just itching to solve. All of this will have to wait until she gets a good night's sleep though, because although he's many things, irresponsible isn't one of them. She may have volunteered herself as his bodyguard but that doesn't absolve him of his duties as a doctor to his patient.

"It's almost midnight, we should go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow Tifa, good night."  
"Yes, good night to you as well doc, uh, I mean Bruce. See you later."

And with that Tifa and Bruce parted ways to start their normal bedtime routines before going to sleep, with their recent conversation still echoing in their minds. Neither of them noticed the red light blinking ominously in the closet in Bruce's room that was an indicator of a hidden camera in the room that had been planted courtesy of a certain SHIELD agent…


End file.
